The Autoport was sold more than 2 years ago. Why is it still sitting empty?

Oldest motel in Pennsylvania sits empty

A brief history of The Autoport, which is the oldest motel in Pennsylvania and is located at 1405 South Atherton Street in State College.
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A brief history of The Autoport, which is the oldest motel in Pennsylvania and is located at 1405 South Atherton Street in State College.
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The former Autoport was sold more than two years ago, and it’s still sitting empty.

Greg and Lynda Mussi sold the motel and restaurant, located at 1405 S. Atherton St. in State College, to South Atherton Real Estate I LP, of Montoursville, in May 2016.

According to the property deed, the sale was $2.1 million. The Mussis had been facing foreclosure since April 2014, as previously reported, and the property, Pennsylvania’s oldest motel, was featured in October 2014 on an episode of “Hotel Impossible.”

Ed LeClear, State College borough planning director, said there’s been no plans submitted for the property and that the borough hasn’t had any communication with the new ownership.

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Their design team was in touch, but LeClear said the borough hasn’t heard from them in about a year.

“They didn’t have any definitive plans. They were just asking us questions about how the zoning ordinance pertained to the property so they didn’t give us any information about exactly what their plans were for the property. And that was before they assembled a number of other parcels around the property,” he said.

At the time of the sale, Greg Mussi told the CDT that the new owners were well-funded and excited for the next chapter.

“From what they’ve told me they want to renovate, and I believe they’ll invest the time and money and redo all the rooms and get everything where it needs to be for it to be successful. I don’t know about the name. I don’t know if they’ll keep it or the restaurant, but I know they’ll invest a lot to be successful,” Mussi said.

Gregory Welteroth Jr., listed in real estate documents as general partner of South Atherton Real Estate I LP, didn’t return requests for comment.

“They are private property owners,” LeClear said. “They have a right to redevelop it; they have a right to leave it vacant. … As long as they keep their weeds cut and other ordinance enforcement items, from a zoning standpoint, there’s nothing we can do to compel them to redevelop the property.”